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[Angry Grimace]

I wonder if in some world Inverter of Truth is a secret techy card for SOI self-mill since it has that fake Threshold mechanic.

 

[Lucario]

Painter's Servant just spiked to $30. Someone on reddit found out it blanks Eye of Ugin and makes Eldrazi Temple worse, and now /r/magictcg is insisting it's the best sideboard hate card for the deck.

... If you have any copies, sell.

edit:
Servant also turns off Mimics and Ancient Stirrings. It's pretty brutal against the R/G version of the deck; blanks 8 cards, severely weakens 8 more, and makes it very difficult to reach your top end. Much worse against the more proactive R/U and colorless variants.


Other answers that keep popping up on reddit, because some of these are pretty creative (but almost all bad). I'll ignore the obvious stuff, like Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge.

Sunscour -- Suggested on /r/spikes. Probably meant to come in with servant?

Hornet's Nest -- It's kind of a shame that the creature-based answers all happen to die to both Spatial Contortion and Warping Wail.

Worship -- Someone on GAF already mentioned this. It's silly, but they can just rip it out of your hand, kill you first, or World Breaker it.

Spreading Algae -- I love whoever came up with this. It's obviously too slow, and wouldn't really work unless you have your own Urborgs, but the idea of blowing someone out on MTGO with this is hilarious.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I mean, I'm not the guy to say "what if they have this answer" but it does in fact die to dismember and even Spatial Contortion. I don't know, its worth a shot, I'm just skeptical anything can answer "I have 8 Ancient Tombs"

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Definitely sell. The card isn't as effective as people want it to be - they're just desperate to beat the Eldrazi as opposed to dealing with another banning.

It won't work of course. The lands are 100% getting banned with the next banlist update.

 

[Santiako]

Worship also seems to be spiking hard. Angry Grimace had this tech days ago, Eldrazi just can't win against it

 

[Lucario]

QuetSpeculation subscriptions might actually have a purpose soon. They claim to have developed a webcam card recognition tool that can read up to 1000 cards per hour.

I know I've ranted about how useless their service is before, but if this software works half as well as they claim, I'm sold.

Here's a copy of the email -

Dear QS Subscribers,
For the past six months, we've been working on a secret project. It is a scanner for Magic cards. Internally, we named this "Project ION", and today, we're proud to announce that we're bringing ION fully into the public eye for the first time.  

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have seen previews and inklings of this project; we've posted a few videos showing off our technology.  These videos have generated a tremendous amount of interest and a number of follow-up inquiries.  

If you haven't seen the videos, you'll want to check those out here:
 

ION Card Scanner Demo

Augmented Reality with ION


Today I'm going to formally introduce the ION scanner and attempt to answer some common questions about it.  

Here's the fun part:  the core version of this tool will be made available to QS Insider subscribers as part of their existing subscription package!  We know that we could probably sell this as a standalone app, but after much deliberation we decided that simply including it in the existing QS subscription package was the right thing to do.  This will be a powerful extension of the Trader Tools software, finally bridging the gap between the physical Magic cards you own and your digital inventory.

We aim to have ION Core available for QS Subscribers to download within one week; we're running some final checks on the software to be sure it's ready for prime-time.  You'll get an email when the download is live.

So, what is the ION scanner?   Quite simply, it's software that lets computers identify Magic cards with a camera.  Under proper lighting conditions, it can identify a Magic card in about a tenth of a second.  It's -really- fast.  In speed tests, we've seen people achieve a rate of 1000 cards scanned per hour or more.  To scan in a sealed deck pool or your Standard deck would only take a minute or two.  

It can use almost any USB camera, so if you happen to have one lying around your house, it'll probably work.  We've also located an awesome tabletop document camera that works extremely well with ION, which we'll show you when we release the software.  Right now, our "version 1" only runs on Windows, but we have plans to expand to other platforms as the technology matures.  My apologies to fellow Apple users!

And it's accurate.  I've scanned tens of thousands of cards with ION, and I can count on one hand the number of times it's made a mistake (usually because the lighting in the room was horrible).  

It's also very good at identifying different editions; it can tell the difference between a white-border and black-border card.  If it's not sure, it'll prompt you with the potential choices in the form of selectable Edition symbols. It scans right through sleeves, which Doug was grateful for, given that his collection lives in Perfect-Fits.

Of course, it wouldn't be a QS product if it wasn't also jammed full of price data.  As you scan cards, you'll see the same price data as you'd see in Trader Tools, and you'll have the option to disable any merchants you're not interested in using.  

When you've scanned your cards with ION, a single button click will push the list into Trader Tools.  From there, you can do whatever you'd like with the list, just as if you'd typed them in.  

Whether you're an individual or business, you'll have access to the core version of this software for as long as your QS account is active.  However, If you're a business, retailer, online seller, or a power-trader, we'll be offering a more advanced version of ION that's purpose-built for businesses.  ION Pro is in the final stages of Closed Beta.  If you'd like early access to test it out, simply respond to this email and I'll get you put on the Beta list.

Whether you use ION Core or ION Pro, we think you'll be blown away by how fast, accurate and efficient our software is.  We're delighted that we can bring the core tech to our Insiders at absolutely no extra cost, and we're really excited to see what happens when local game stores start deploying ION Pro.  

I am not prone to exaggeration, but I strongly feel that this technology is going to change the face of Magic: The Gathering forever.   It's going to be great to see how our Insiders use the ION scanner, and we're looking forward to the feedback of our first release candidate.

You may have seen other scanners or apps on the market. We aren't interested in copying them; we want to exceed them. This is light-years ahead of what's around. 

Thank you for being loyal subscribers.  We don't sell cards, run advertisements, or make money on affiliate product sales.  We only thrive when we provide the best information & technology to our customers, and we will continue tirelessly improving our products, investing in our site, attending Pro Tours and coming up with cutting edge new tech.  We couldn't have gotten this far without our subscribers.

Thank you for your loyalty,

--Kelly Reid
CEO, QuietSpeculation.com

 

[Angry Grimace]

Worship also seems to be spiking hard. Angry Grimace had this tech days ago, Eldrazi just can't win against it

All is Dust out of the board probably makes short work of it though. They aren't playing it yet, but that or World Breaker seem pretty bad. I don't think speccing on cards when we don't even know if these are the optimal builds is a good idea. The Ancient Stirrings version that had 4 World Breakers in it looked extremely good.

I don't think its worth even bothering with speculative sideboard techs. I'm just going to avoid Modern until it gets banned *shrug*. I don't really want to buy more cards and warp the lists I've made just to fight off a completely unfair deck.

 

[Santiako]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/announcing-eldritch-moon-2016-02-08

Eldritch Moon, set 2 of SOI block.

Emrakul confirmed I guess

 

[Angry Grimace]

this is sick

 

[Santiako]

I'm guessing that also confirms Liliana will not be in SOI but in EMN instead.

 

[Firemind]

Eldritch Moon, really?

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Zombie tribal is gonna be fucking huge.

Virulent Plague rotates out too, btw.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Zombie tribal is gonna be fucking huge.

Virulent Plague rotates out too, btw.

Not until the Fall block. It's in Dragons of Tarkir.

 

[WanderingWind]

Innistrad zombies were just the best. Just the best. I still have my UB zombie deck from that standard environment put together. I will be forcing it again. Though, without Mortarpod, I dunno.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Ah Emrakul, or as some say Emeria, do you hear our prayers?

 

[ultron87]

Yesssss. Just gimme all that Bloodborne flavor.

 

[Angry Grimace]

They're rapidly heading towards double large sets with 205 in the "small set" although that sounds like more DFCs.

 

[Angry Grimace]

the real question is why in the fuck they didn't announce it on stream

 

[ultron87]

Does she have an evil growth on her shoulder or is that in the background?

 

[Santiako]

I'm guessing that O with a little flick is the set symbol?

 

[kirblar]

Told you Emrakul was on the moon.

 

[Hero]

Why the fuck wouldn't they announce this yesterday?

 

[Angry Grimace]

The set symbol is probably just a picture of Emrakul eating the moon while Tamiyo cries in the background

 

[WanderingWind]

Told you Emrakul was on the moon.

So did everybody else the second the teaser trailer was released. In other news:

TheProxyGuy ‏@TheProxyGuy 23m23 minutes ago
Thanks to this, I can *confirm* Eternal Masters real. #TakeItToTheBank

Apparently, he has an in and that source confirmed Eldrich Moon a while back, along with Eternal Masters. At this point, I'm thinking this is either totally real, or one of those designed leaks where a company gives out 4 differing pieces of info to see which leaks to nail the leakers to the wall.

 

["God's Beard!"]

(In Innistrad where fear is king
When Jace meets Lili here's what they say)

When a moon that you see looks like Eldrazi
That's amore
When the world seems to distort like you've had too much port
You're in love
Church bells ring "Ava-Avacyn Ava-Avacyn"
And you'll scream "It's The Butcher!"
Blood will spray yippie-yippie yay, yippie-yippie yay
Like a flaaayed tarantuuuulaaaa

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I'm still saying Emrakul is the moon.

 

[Wulfric]

The promo art is sick, I love the purple. The logo is super cute for a Magic set to boot.

If Tamiyo isn't in this set, imma cry.

From Google:

Eldritch: weird and sinister or ghostly

So it look's like they're playing with the name Emrakul and the usual creepiness of Innistrad. Fair enough, it's kind of a funny name though. Not announcing this yesterday was a missed opportunity.

 

[WanderingWind]

The pink logo is sick. Pretty stoked for SoI block. Like a drunk who has sworn off liquor for the 23rd time, I'm ready to move on from Eldrazi.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Eldritch Moon sounds like the name of a crappy anime song

 

[ultron87]

Or is the gray thing a creepy Eldrazi thing floating by the moon?

 

[Xis]

They're rapidly heading towards double large sets with 205 in the "small set" although that sounds like more DFCs.

Probably really does have 205 cards (DFCs are counted once, not twice).
Shadows over Innistrad was announced as being 297 cards, and the leaked cards confirm that it has 297 different cards (the collector # on each card is */297).

 

[Santiako]

Or is the gray thing a creepy Eldrazi thing floating by the moon?

I think she's wearing a fur thing on her shoulder.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Seriously though i hope we get some weird deformed Mensis werewolves in EMN

 

[SigmasonicX]

From Google:


So it look's like they're playing with the name Emrakul and the usual creepiness of Innistrad. Fair enough, it's kind of a funny name though. Not announcing this yesterday was a missed opportunity.

Eldritch is also a term strongly affiliated with Lovecraft. Lovecraftian monsters are also often referred to as eldritch abominations, and "Eldrazi" is even specifically derived from that term. By the way, the word was actually originally meant to refer to elves, of the "fair folk" sort.

And yeah, my first reaction when I saw the article name on the Mothership was, "... And they didn't announce this yesterday, why?"

Eldritch Moon sounds like the name of a crappy anime song

It made me think of Soul Eater's second opening, "Paper Moon".

 

[Toxi]

Eldritch Moon is a fucking awesome set name.

But echoing everyone else, why didn't they announce this on stream?

 

[SigmasonicX]

Hasbro's Q4 earnings report mentions Magic in the positive.

Games category revenues increased 1% for the year to $1.28 billion. Franchise Brands MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY, as well as PIE FACE and several other games brands contributed to growth for the year. The Games category grew 8% absent the impact of foreign exchange.

 

[Lucario]

Just had the best sealed match of my life.

Game 1, I keep a 3 land hand with Cultivator Drone, Thought-Knot Seer, and some fliers. Opponent plays a turn 2 Hedron Crawler, and on turn 3 casts his own Thought-Knot Seer, exiling mine.

I manage to draw some fliers (Gravity Negator, Thought Harvester, and Expedition Raptor) and seal it up before he can really establish his boardstate. 1-0.



Game 2, I keep an average hand. Light on early threats, but I can play Eldrazi Skyspawner into Walker of the Wastes, which is good enough for me. He casts turn 4 thought-knot seer, taking my Walker of the Wastes.

I start to stabilize with fliers, and he resolves World Breaker. I keep it tapped down with Blinding Drone, nearly running him over with my fliers, but he draws Sphinx of the Final Word. Thing is, the Sphinx couldn't do shit against my deck. I'm running like 7 fliers, 6 of which have more toughness than power. It sits on the board uselessly for a while, both of us looking for a mirror breaker.

Finally, he draws a Blinding Drone, which taps mine down so his World Breaker can start getting through. I'm in chump block mode for too long before finding an answer, so I end up 1-1.



I sideboard in Scour from Existence and a second Containment Membrane to deal with the World Breaker, taking out a random Ally and Searing Light.

Game 3 I can't keep my opener, but mull to an incredible 6; 3 land, Thought-knot Seer, Eldrazi Skyspawner, Blinding Drone.

Opponent goes turn 2 Hedron Crawler, turn 3 Thought-Knot seer taking my Thought-Knot Seer. It's too amazing to get tilted at.

I try to manascrew him by firing off a Containment Membrane at his Hedron Crawler, but unfortunately he was a bit flooded. He plays turn 6 Worldbreaker destroying my only island, I answer it with Isolation Zone, and he follows up with the Sphinx again. GG, 1-2.



I don't think I'll get to play a higher powered game of sealed for a long time, lmao.

 

[Xis]

Eldritch Moon is a fucking awesome set name.

Goes some ways towards making up for the worst set name in a long time (Oath), and the blandness of all of the Return to / Battle for / Scars of / Shadows Over names.

But Eldritch is just stolen from H.P. Lovecraft.

Do we know for a fact that this isn't a Sisters of Mercy themed set?

 

[Firemind]

But Eldritch is just stolen from H.P. Lovecraft.

 

[Ashodin]

I'd just like to point out there is no heron in the moon.

 

[Lucario]

I'd just like to point out there is no heron in the moon.

Good catch.


Also, man, I'm liking that pink logo a lot. Shame the booster packaging isn't the same color.

 

[Wichu]

I'd just like to point out there is no heron in the moon.

Yeah, we know. It's a shrew, a five-legged shrew, with a voice like whispering thunder.

 

[ultron87]

I'd just like to point out there is no heron in the moon.

I think the Heron is actually there. You see the "throat" right behind her. Compare:

Mothership Article pic:

EMN art:

 

[Ashodin]

Nah, the outline you think you're seeing is too high up on the moon itself. It doesn't align right.

 

[Emerson]

Super excited for this block coming up. Love the dark Victorian vaguely Lovecraftian flavor.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Emrakul is no match for Liliana's sexromancy.

 

[ultron87]

Nah, the outline you think you're seeing is too high up on the moon itself. It doesn't align right.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Nah, the outline you think you're seeing is too high up on the moon itself. It doesn't align right.

?

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Boy you people are dedicated.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Boy you people are dedicated.

I wrote like 300 words debating whether or not I should play 1 or 2 mountains in my Standard deck one time. This is the game we play.